Aircraft and Flight Information
The aircraft involved was a Cessna 152, registration G-BOKY, manufactured in 1978. It was powered by a single Lycoming O-235-L2C piston engine. The flight was a training exercise, operating under a Commercial Pilot's Licence held by the commander, aged 62, with 405 hours total flying experience (98 hours on type). The student pilot had over 80 hours of previous experience, including solo time.
History of the Flight
The flight departed from Bournemouth Airport as a planned navigation exercise to Old Sarum Airfield in Wiltshire, with circuit consolidation training scheduled at Old Sarum. The flight to Old Sarum was uneventful. Upon arrival, permission was obtained from the tower to join the circuit for touch-and-go landings on grass Runway 06. The first two circuits and landings were carried out satisfactorily. During the third circuit, the instructor instructed the student to go around because the aircraft was too high on the final approach. The fourth circuit was considered acceptable by the instructor, but the aircraft bounced on landing. The student continued with the landing attempt, and on the second touchdown, the nose landing gear collapsed.
Landing and Aftermath
The aircraft ran along the runway on its nose and main landing gear for a short distance before coming to rest at the left-hand edge of the runway. Both occupants were uninjured and vacated the aircraft unassisted. Before leaving, the magnetos, master switch, and fuel were selected off. Damage was limited to the nose landing gear collapse, a bent propeller, and damage to the engine cowling. At the time of the accident, the weather at Old Sarum was: surface wind from 040° at 10 knots, visibility 10 km, scattered cloud at 1,800 ft, and broken cloud at 3,100 ft.
Pilot Comments
The instructor commented afterwards that he had not appreciated the severity of the bounce and that he should have been more prepared to intervene. He noted that he may have been influenced by the fact that the student had already undertaken 75 hours of training and that he had flown with her the previous day.